London Book Fair Names Jacks Thomas as Director

By Hannah Johnson

Jacks Thomas was recently named Senior Executive Director of the London Book Fair

Today, Reed Exhibitions announced that Jacks Thomas, currently joint CEO at Midas Public Relations, will take over as Senior Executive Director of the London Book Fair from Alistair Burtenshaw, who left in September. Thomas will begin her new role in January 2013.

During her eight-year tenure at Midas, Thomas led the PR team that defined the communication strategy for the London Book Fair, as well as teams working with the Booksellers’ Association, Publishing Technology and the Sharjah Book Fair.

Ian Houghton, Porfolio Director at Reed Exhibitions said, “Jacks has been intimately involved in The London Book Fair for several years and this deep knowledge of the show and how it works, linked with her understanding of what drives value for publishers, makes her an excellent choice to lead the show’s on-going development.”

As the publishing industry changes, book fairs are also adapting to the new, more digitized landscape. It appears that Thomas is excited to face this evolving market head-on: “There isn’t a more exciting time to be working with the amazing creative minds behind our singularly diverse and wide-ranging industry,” said Thomas. “The book world is endlessly interesting and innovative. I’m looking forward immensely to this new challenge.”

The London Book Fair will take place April 15–17, 2013 with Turkey as the Market Focus.